Football

Three transfers, one goal: Win at KU

One by one, they walked into Mrkonic Auditorium looking the part of proud, polished, prepared college football players.

In some ways they were newcomers to the Kansas University football program, names we’ve heard but skills we have yet to see. In other ways, they served as the new face for a program that spent the past two seasons desperately seeking an identity.

Whatever the case, it was clear that transfers Dayne Crist, Jake Heaps and Justin McCay, each of whom was introduced to the media at a news conference on Monday, were here for one reason — they believe in Kansas football and head coach Charlie Weis.

“None of us expected to be sitting here today in Kansas when we had all committed to different places,” said Heaps, a quarterback from BYU who will be eligible as a junior beginning in 2013. “You don’t go in expecting that it’s not going to work out. But at the end of the day, things happen for a reason. We’re all here and excited. In our minds, we couldn’t be in a better situation than with coach Weis and the rest of the staff.”

Each player chose to come to Kansas for a different reason. For Crist, a former Notre Dame quarterback who was recruited to South Bend, Ind., by Weis, the opportunity to play at KU represented one more shot to live up to the five-star billing he had in high school. It also offered one more opportunity to play for the man he believed could help him get to the NFL. That’s still the goal for Crist, a senior who has one season of eligibility remaining and likely will start the 2012 season at quarterback. But that’s far from the first thing on his mind.

“I’m a team guy first, that’s always going to be my M.O.,” Crist said. “I want nothing more than for this team to be successful.”

With Weis sitting in a wooden chair about a dozen feet away, Crist, Heaps and McCay took turns answering questions from reporters covering everything from why they chose KU and what they were most excited about, to their personal backgrounds. Their chemistry was evident. Although the trio has yet to play a down together, it was clear through their smiles, comfort and playful banter that they were ready to lead together.

“We haven’t practiced yet,” McCay said. “But Jake was my quarterback at the Army (high school all-star) game, and Dayne is my roommate now so we can get real familiar with each other pretty quickly. I like that.”

McCay, a wide receiver from Bishop Miege High who left Oklahoma with a hardship waiver, is still waiting word on his eligibility. There’s a chance he’ll be able to play right away and not have to sit out a season. Either way, McCay said he was happy to be at KU, a school he’s known about since his days playing youth football, a school he briefly visited as a senior at Miege.

“I wouldn’t call it a second chance, but more of an opportunity,” he said of coming to Kansas. “We all wanted the same thing. We probably didn’t talk to each other, but we knew what we wanted and why we came here. They have great coaches, as in coach Weis. We all know what he does and what we can do to try to help Kansas football.”

While McCay’s words spoke for all three players, he was off on one thing: Crist and Heaps actually spent a substantial amount of time talking about the idea of coming to KU together. No conversation they had was more entertaining than the one that took place on Dec. 22, when the two QBs committed to KU within a couple of hours of each other. At the time, many KU fans called it the biggest recruiting day in program history. They weren’t the only ones excited.

“When I knew that this was where I wanted to be and where my heart was, after calling coach Weis and some of the other coaches, (Heaps) was the next guy that I called,” Crist said. “I said, ‘Hey man, I committed. What are you waiting for?’ I put a little pressure on him. It was nice, though. It was an exciting day for both of us. I know what it was like for me, and I can only imagine what it was like for Jake, his wife and his whole family. It was something that I will always remember.”

Comments

Agreed. Bar is set higher. Bar is based on proven competence over a coaching career. Intelligent coaches improve, learn, adjust. Just like intelligent coaches make halftime adjustments in most every game.

Cant wait for football. Why cant the basketball team just hurry up and win it all already...so that football can get here?!

You realize that the torunament in March/April is going to be a distraction to the start of Spring ball don't you. I guess it is only a couple days, so maybe it is manageble and will take some of the pressure off the FB team right away.

Let's hope Charlie pinned that article on his own bulletin board. I would if I was him.

This whole thing hinges on the idea that Weis learned from that experience and will apply the lessons to KU. It's hard to argue with anything that he's done to this point, it will be interesting to see his first recruiting class...I think that we'll all be impressed.

That's funny he went 35-27 at ND. If he did that at Kansas he would be the best coach in Kansas football history. FACT! The guy who wrote this just has it out for NFL guys. Look at all the NFL coaches he bashes on. Im still stoked!!

My sophomore year, we had Coach Val, my junior year Coach Mason. kusports posted an article recently about Coach Val I think, and many said he should have been given more time. But I vividly remember how much harder the kids played for Coach Mason, and you could tell immediately how much better off the program was in his hands. I'm not suggesting we'll all of a sudden be able to beat an Oklahoma. But the games where the talent gap is not that big may swing in our favor quicker than many think. Iowa State, Texas Tech, maybe even KSU and Baylor minus two first round picks might become winnable games. I certainly think we could win a couple of those games.

Hahahaha!!! "We're forced to live with (the dismissal) and react appropriately, but it's hard not to wear the Jayhawk uniform and go out there and play for KU.".

Yeah it must be real hard not wearing that uniform that you wore one day to take pictures. What a joke this kid is! Playing the victim!?!? You made your bed now sleep in it. How will he be able to play in Hawaii or Washington when he can't make a 9hr drive or 1hr flight back to Kansas? Poor thing, he had to check his voicemail and twitter to find out he wasn't on the team. Try picking up the phone or getting to campus more than once a year and maybe you would have had a clue. Or maybe even picking up your phone when the coach calls. Did you think CW was going to take his time to come to your house and then tell you? NO!!! Your crazy! The more I read about this idiot the more it pisses me off! I'm Soooooo glad this distraction or should i say DIVA is gone!

You're also correct. He should have went to the mandatory team meeting. It would not be hard to throw off the chemistry just because of this. If you're enrolled at Kansas University for this Semester, going to that meeting would not have been difficult to achieve. I doubt highly there was a court date on a Sunday.

Good point, intx1973. If he was enrolled you would think he would be on campus since classes started Tuesday and that was also the first day of conditioning workouts. He apparently had no intention of coming to school this Spring.

This is the same clown who posted that their move was for academic reasons and that they fit with the SEC better in scholastics than the Big XII... Really? You admit that your conference fits better with a conference that has been dubbed "the worst conference academically of all the major conferences"?

Mizzou clowns are reaaaally trying hard to make us care about them. But they fail to realize that we are done with them. I'm done giving them the time of day as is the rest of Jayhawk Nation...but had to point that one out.

I'd be scared too if I was a Tiger, they are going to be a doormat for a very, very long time.